Halloran: School board to select new principal Thursday

Tim Halloran, principal at Fairfield High School, is shown in this 2012 photo from the school's website. (Daily Republic)

FAIRFIELD — Trustees of the Fairfield-Suisun School District, meeting in closed session Thursday, will select his successor, said Tim Halloran, who is resigning as Fairfield High School principal.

The agenda for the 5 p.m. closed session includes discussion of public employment for high school principals and other positions. A new principal would begin in July, Halloran said.

Halloran will attend the school board meeting, which begins in open session at 6 p.m., as part of his Fairfield High principal duties. He said he will not speak but has heard that students and parents may attend to comment about his resignation that’s effective next month.

“It’s a democracy,” the school principal said.

It’s a good thing if, at an open forum like a board meeting, “people want to express their feelings,” Halloran said.

People are fighting for their school, he said.

The 54-year-old has said secrecy is the norm in a school district managed by fear, intimidation and bullying. Superintendent Kris Corey said no evidence supports Halloran’s description and that an open, transparent district is important to her.

Halloran said the seven-member school board asks questions but stops short of difficult inquiries.

“Our board is very cordial, that’s for sure,” he said.

Halloran, who began as principal two years ago, said he doesn’t expect employment in the state after his remarks critical of Fairfield-Suisun School District administrators.

“I’ll probably never get an administrative job in California again,” he said.

“It’s a small community,” he said of school administrators.

Halloran said he’ll look for a smaller school district than Fairfield-Suisun and its enrollment of about 21,500.

The Fairfield-based school district is large with “a lot of layers” and “communication is more difficult,” Halloran said.

Ryan McCarthy

Discussion | 6 comments

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The Choice Is Still YoursMay 21, 2014 - 8:41 pm

Today's IPR at FHS was mind boggling. Shelia hardly said a word. Mumbled something about the budget and read from a sheet of paper. We momentarily considered the possibility that she cared what we thought, then we came back to our senses. Why you ask? Sheila McCabe's manic behavior. After years of interaction either on campus or during district functions It's apparent that she's the catalyst behind the instability of the school. Sheila McCabe has been over our middle and high school for many years now. That being said, if the high schools have performed so poorly, isn't she responsible? I originally attributed the manic behavior I've witnessed from Sheila McCabe to stress, but today I realized that what I believed to be stress is actually fear. Sheila wants to control everyone and everything she sees. Specifically, when Sheila disagrees with someone she immediately responds "The expectation is..." Sheila McCabe has no desire to hear anything from anyone. She's devoid of social skills. If Sheila believes she's in the presence of anyone who is imminently likable (such as Principal Halloran) she quickly goes for the jugular because she is so insecure. Think about it. How many times has she shared with anyone who was unfortunate enough to be in earshot, "my father was an attorney" when it wasn't even relevant to the conversation. I would also like to point out that while she was in Travis she was notorious for dumping students I to the continuation program just before STAR Testing. Sheila McCabe has harmed many students both directly and indirectly and it's time that Kris Corey be given an ultimatum. It's Sheila McCabe or your superintendency. Since Kris Corey didn't attend today's meeting we assumed she was either penning an apology to Mr. Halloran or intimidating her subordinates. Either way, it doesn't really matter. These Board members must go. Old fashioned addition by subtraction.